KIRKUS REVIEW

Another comedian extends his brand to the printed page.

Though stand-up comics once shared their material primarily in clubs, onstage, the career has gone multiplatform: social media, viral video, TV development deals, film projects and, once sufficient name recognition has been achieved, a book deal. Kreischer doesn’t really have a book in him, and by his account, it’s unlikely that he’s read many, for pleasure at least. On his honeymoon, someone offered him a James Patterson novel, but he didn’t see how that could add to the fun of the beach and the booze. (The opening line of the book is, “Bong hits are like strippers: they’re best shared with a group of friends.”) Some books within the expanding genre of comedian memoir help aspiring readers learn how to emulate the career progression or at least illuminate what sort of character traits are likely to lead to success. Kreischer’s path was singular—while still in college (six years without graduating), he received a cold call from a Rolling Stone reporter who wanted a tour guide to partying on campus, which turned into an extended feature in the magazine on the premier party animal, which inspired the movie National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, which led to comedy clubs and TV programs. Many of his stories are like many other peoples’ stories—fumbling adolescent sex, frat hazing, drugs and drinking—balanced by what appears to be surprising maturity as a husband and father, though he’s not above using his daughters for jokes that might make other fathers cringe: “I hope [they] will take advantage of all that college has to offer (except, obviously, for the designer drugs and virginity-saving anal sex).”

The market for this sophomoric book likely consists of men who don’t read many others.

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